1788–89 United States House of Representatives elections

The 1788–89 United States House of Representatives elections were the first U.S. House of Representatives elections following the adoption of the Constitution of the United States. Each state set its own date for its congressional elections, ranging from November 24, 1788, to March 5, 1789, before or after the first session of the 1st United States Congress convened on March 4, 1789. They coincided with the election of George Washington as the first president of the United States.

1788–89 United States House of Representatives elections

November 24, 1788 – March 5, 1789

All 59 seats in the United States House of Representatives
30 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Frederick Muhlenberg James Madison
Party Pro-Administration Anti-Administration
Leader's seat Pennsylvania at-large Virginia 5th
Seats won 37 28

Results:
     Pro-Administration gain      Anti-Administration gain
     Undistricted

Speaker before election

None (This was the first U.S. House of Representatives election)

Elected Speaker

Frederick Muhlenberg
Pro-Administration

With the new form of government needing to be operational prior to the completion of the first national census, Article I, Section 1, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution set a temporary apportionment of seats. Among the original 13 states, 11 of them ratified the Constitution and elected 59 total representatives. North Carolina and Rhode Island did not ratify the Constitution until after the 1st Congress began, and consequently did not elect their representatives until 1790.

Actual political parties did not yet exist, but new members of Congress were informally categorized as either "pro-Administration" (i.e., pro-Washington and pro-Hamilton) or "anti-Administration".

The first session of the first House of Representatives came to order in Federal Hall, New York City on March 4, 1789, with only thirteen members present. The requisite quorum (thirty members out of fifty-nine) was not present until April 1, 1789. The first order of business was the election of a Speaker of the House. On the first ballot, Frederick Muhlenberg was elected Speaker by a majority of votes. The business of the first session was largely devoted to legislative procedure rather than policy.

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